From the many incredible founders we’ve featured this year, here are eight stories that highlight resilience, innovation, and staying true to values.
This week’s Founder Friday looks back at Eight exceptional female entrepreneurs who transformed personal struggles into purpose-driven businesses.
These founders show how personal experience combined with determination creates meaningful change. Their stories share a common thread: the most powerful businesses emerge when founders refuse to accept inadequate solutions and build what they wish had existed. Each faced setbacks and challenges, yet scaled their ventures while staying true to their values.
Chiquita Searle: Founder, Chiquita & Co
Chiquita Searle entered PR almost by accident. After freelancing as a copywriter for a year, a major real estate franchise gave her an opportunity that became the foundation of Chiquita & Co.
You really can’t thrive in this line of work unless you enjoy the thrill of the chase and know how to handle rejection
A major real estate franchise gave her a chance and she learned fast, handling media, awards, speaking engagements, sponsorships and events.
Our growth initially came from word of mouth, referrals, and social media, which helped us build a strong foundation.
Her agency grew through word of mouth, referrals, and social media, building a foundation strong enough to support her 2022 launch of FemmeCon, designed to empower women to take control of their lives and finances. It now offers PR, awards, events, sponsorships, social media, content creation, and digital marketing. Searle grew it on trust, offering no-contract arrangements where outcomes spoke louder than agreements.
Read full story: Chiquita Searle on building Chiquita & Co and FemmeCon
Lisa Jones: Founder, SHE-com
Lisa Jones had already built multiple brands to seven-figure success when she noticed a common struggle among female e-commerce founders. The isolation inspired her to launch SHE-com in 2022, a community providing mentorship, resources, and connection.
Jones’s background included Sustainable Man, a solar venture, and Ecoriginals, the world’s most eco-friendly nappy and wipes brand. Observing other women face scaling challenges alone, she created a space where guidance and community intersect.
We cultivated an engaged community of over 40,000 female brand owners, offering free masterclasses, networking events, and industry insights to help them scale.
Today, SHE-com supports over 40,000 female brand owners, powered by coaches who have scaled seven and eight-figure businesses themselves. Jones believes longevity comes from providing real value to specific audiences, not chasing money alone.
Successful businesses are built on providing real value to a specific
audience. If you’re just chasing money, your brand won’t have longevity.
Read full story: How Lisa Jones built a 40,000-strong network with SHE-com
Meghan McTavish: Founder, The Plotline Journal
After a difficult divorce left her bedridden and doom-scrolling, Meghan McTavish realised she could reframe her story. She began writing her days like a screenplay, imagining herself as the heroine in her own narrative. This perspective shift led to The Plotline Journal.
Her editorial experience with Qantas Magazine and freelancing for Margot Robbie’s Papa Salt helped her craft compelling storytelling, but this was deeply personal. McTavish focused on designing a product that felt like luxury self-help, something customers could proudly leave on a coffee table.
“Your customers are more valuable than any marketing ploy”
Starting small in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, she built a loyal foundation before thinking globally. She says, “Plans are guides not rules, and adapting to challenges is where real progress happens.”
The best founders aren’t the ones who dogmatically stick to the original plan but the ones who evolve and get better as they go
Read full story: Meghan McTavish: How The Plotline Journal turns life into a hero’s journey
Carlene Rotblat: Founder, Sweet Dreamers / Baby Sleep Pods
Carlene Rotblat’s venture began with her own postpartum struggles. Conventional sleep training worsened her anxiety, inspiring her to create Sweet Dreamers in 2020. She wanted gentle, no-tears sleep support for babies and a safe solution for sleep outside the home.
I made it a point to actively engage with parents on various platforms, sharing valuable sleep tips, showcasing the Baby Sleep Pods in use, and promoting positive feedback from customers. This not only helped build a community of parents around the product but also contributed to increased sales and visibility.
In 2023, she launched Australia’s first safety-tested blackout pram cover, balancing light blocking, airflow, and UV protection. Rotblat built her e-commerce skills from scratch using YouTube tutorials and leaning on her network for initial support. She says, “Mistakes are stepping stones rather than setbacks, turning failure into learning and refinement.”
Read full story: How one mom turned postpartum struggles into a business success
Katherine Ruiz: Founder, People Haircare
Katherine Ruiz launched People Haircare in 2022 after childhood embarrassment with supermarket hair products motivated her to democratise premium haircare. Within months, the brand had expanded to 23 products, including the All-in-one Treatment, which sold over 70,000 units.
“Starting out, one of the biggest challenges was breaking into a crowded, highly competitive category. Haircare is saturated with legacy brands that have decades of consumer trust, large marketing budgets, and established shelf space.”
She prioritised distribution early, securing Coles for national reach while keeping formulas high-performing and messaging inclusive.
You won’t always have the biggest budget, the largest team, or the perfect set of circumstances. But creativity, persistence, and relationships can open doors that money can’t.
Read full story: Founder’s Friday with People Haircare’s Katherine Ruiz on breaking beauty stigmas
Stella Beckett: Founder, Diary Dolls
Stella Beckett left corporate life seeking purpose. A parent herself, she recognised a lack of confidence-building tools for children and launched Diary Dolls in 2024. Each doll comes with a journal, story, and activities teaching resilience.
“One of the most important mindset shifts for me was moving from ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘How can I do this?’ That change, along with accepting that fear is part of the process, has made all the difference. You can learn anything or get help with the things you don’t know; everything is figure-out-able.”
Early lessons included redesigning packaging to lower shipping costs. Beckett emphasises patience, building products thoughtfully and delivering real value over rushing for scale. Her mission is to nurture kids to trust themselves and overcome self-doubt.
“Bringing a custom product to market comes with a steep learning curve. Prototyping took far longer and cost far more than I anticipated. It took multiple rounds of sampling to get the design, materials, and quality to the standard I wanted.
Read full story: How Stella Beckett turned her worst childhood memories into a business
Rosy McEvedy: Founder, IV League Drips
Rosy McEvedy knows the grind of rebuilding from failure. After major losses, she founded IV League Drips, pitching tirelessly to gyms, pharmacies, and wellness centres, often working 18-hour days. A licensing model later enabled rapid expansion while maintaining quality, growing to over 165 qualified licensees.
As a business owner, your goal should be to build systems that allow you to scale without compromising quality. If everything relies on you, growth will be limited.
Her journey underscores the importance of building scalable systems, checking partnerships carefully and leaning on determination to turn passion into sustainable success.
The best business ideas don’t always come from sitting in a brainstorming session, they come from lived experiences, observations, and personal passions. Look for gaps in the market where your unique skills and expertise can make a difference and don’t be afraid to act on them.
Read full story: How Rosy McEvedy built IV League drips from the ground up
Jo Barry: Owner of Scarlet Scarlet and creator of the rae Heat Pad
When Jo Barry acquired Scarlet, it was more than buying a business. Years of struggling with endometriosis and adenomyosis had shown her the gaps in period care. With over 20 years of experience building brands like CLEO and The Word Collective, Barry understood consumers, but this was personal.
“I wanted to create something that wasn’t just about building a business but about making a tangible impact.”
The rae Heat Pad took over three years of testing and design to meet the highest safety standards across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK. Every delay was worth it. Barry says, “It took over three years of testing and design to meet the highest safety standards.” She built Scarlet on empathy first, innovation second, and growth naturally following. For her, chasing noise will never bring impact; only solutions that genuinely improve lives will.
Don’t create just to add noise. Focus on products or services that genuinely improve people’s lives
Read full story: Meet Jo Barry: The woman making period care more inclusive with Scarlet
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